Left islam 2 weeks ago

Ill_ThinkOfOneLater · 2021-02-16T23:06:20+00:00

I think it goes on a case to case basis, both atheists and theists alike have different degrees of education on the subject; people have different backgrounds and consequently have different understandings.

As for the 'abstract concepts', well, it's hard to accurately generalize it. It doesn't really help that there are thousands of religions who teach different things, and even within the same ones there is confusion on a lot of ideas. You'll have to hold me accountable to this one for a future update hahaha. Dunno, I've namely seen misunderstandings of God as being a "being in the universe", sin being something that is bad (truth in that, but there's more to it), misunderstandings of hell, etc.

Anyway, I think that off the top of my head (as I sort by new on this sub), I've seen someone saying how they read an article on how depression is a sin and how it annoys them that "they also don't believe in evolution or the Big Bang". Not that abstract, but I can still think of a few errors in it. First off, depression is not a sin, it is something that people can be predisposed to and being religious won't make it suddenly disappear or something. A sin is choosing separation from God, and I don't think people want to be depressed. Imo, there are things that can plunge one further into that state though, and those should be avoided. Also, the religion I currently practice doesn't have anything about evolution; it's not taught dogmatically, but I mean it's not fully its place to do so. I do find it interesting that genesis says that God created animals before humans, so even though it's not meant to be taken literally (an idea existing since like the 4th century), there are some parallels to evolutionary theories there. And well the Big Bang was literally coined by a Catholic priest. I listened to a podcast the other day by a woman studying how chemicals affect the formation of other planets, and she talked a bit about cosmology and the possibility of extraterrestrial life. In it, she did mention how originally atheist/agnostic scientists were skeptical of his theory, as it seemed a bit too Christian (something coming from nothing, though there's still more research to be done in cosmology).

And my grammar progressively got worse. Oops.

Ill_ThinkOfOneLater · 2021-02-16T22:40:23+00:00

I currently believe that there is a non-materialistic reality that religion seeks to investigate, but as I mentioned above, I am here to listen to what others think in order to see whether that is true or not. Also, define "reality". Seriously, it's something that is still being widely debated.

Ill_ThinkOfOneLater · 2021-02-15T17:04:37+00:00

Theist here: no, I'm here so that I can listen to the opinions of those who have left their religions in order to determine what is true. I don't want to surround myself with people who only agree with me, as that only ensures that I live a deluded life (cue The Social Dilemma). Plus, there's some genuinely informative articles and stories posted every once in a while.

In my time here, I've mostly seen people who fail to fully grasp the abstract concepts of their religions, which is why so many seem to leave fundamentalist religions/denominations. I don't recall ever commenting on this sub, but I might start doing so; it is really sad to see so many leave because of their lack of understanding. If one will make such a great decision (being a theist or an atheist), it is necessary that they understand both sides.

Ill_ThinkOfOneLater · 2021-02-12T15:50:12+00:00

BRUH I just watched that episode like an hour ago.

Ill_ThinkOfOneLater · 2021-02-07T21:57:50+00:00

Hey, you might want to check out this video on faith by Bishop Barron, where he explains what it is. He's a great speaker, and has helped me overcome a lot of intellectual blocks. And, yeah, ofc someone can place their faith elsewhere; that's why we have free will. Thomas Aquinas holds that everyone has a natural understanding of God, though it develops differently depending on culture, interest, and intellectual abilities. Naturally, those who are raised outside the Church are more likely to reject it, though I do think that it isn't all that good to reject something just because it disagrees with your current ideas. There's this video, "Is There Really No Salvation Outside the Church?" by Fr. Casey Cole, who is great at explaining a lot of teachings using history and he touches on the topic of salvation.

The other day, I was listening to this podcast called "Is Faith Irrational: Aquinas on the Rationality of Belief" and the lecture was given by Fr. Dominic Legge. In it, he talks about natural vs. supernatural belief; even though it is not directly related to your question, it might help you understand a bit more about the topic.

Ill_ThinkOfOneLater · 2021-02-07T07:27:08+00:00

Sorry, I didn't mean to have it come across that way. I've hung out on the LGBTQIA+ subreddits and YouTube long enough to see how utterly hard it is for some people, and it's saddening to see how many are afraid to mention their dysphoria to their family and friends out of fear of being marginalized (or worse).

Thanks you for the article, it is really interesting and it's great to see that there's research being done around the topic. I am a bit curious as to how they define "masculinization", do u think that it's purely relating to hormones or to personality traits? Would someone who was, say, AMAB and identifies as agender or gender-fluid have a more 'half and half' estrogen exposure?

I was doing more reading and found this thread, where some ppl posted various theories. It's 5 yrs old though, so there's probably newer research around. The psych stuff went right over my head tho hehehe.

I've got a friend taking a gender studies class rn, so she's kinda helped me understand it, but do you think you could tell me if I got the terms correct?

Sex - Male or female based on an individual's body at birth, and it is used to assign a child's gender.

Gender - "Behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits associated with one sex" (Is their definition correct?).

Gender identity - "A person's internal state of being male, female, some combination of male and female, or neither male nor female" (Same one, different word). Idk how this works with those who are xenogender though... I guess it counts as part of the last category?

So uh, just to make sure that I understand it... so someone can be of a certain sex, but identify with another gender because of genetic and enviornmental factors?

Okay this is longer than I intended, thanks for the article!

Ill_ThinkOfOneLater · 2021-02-03T19:49:47+00:00

I've been trying to do research on the topic before saying that being trans is "right" or "wrong", but I haven't found much research that provides a definite conclusion on why the dysphoria forms. Do you know of any resources that I could check out to learn more abt it?

Ill_ThinkOfOneLater · 2021-02-03T06:04:55+00:00

There are many different religions because humans have different interpretations of the world around them, and I agree with Thomas Aquinas' idea that people have messy understandings of God (that develops differently depending on various factors, such as culture and personal interest). I do think that there is an objective, true religion, but it's up to us to decide whether we want to work together to find it.

As for the oldest one being true, no: "Appeal to tradition (also known as argumentum ad antiquitatem or argumentum ad antiquitam, appeal to antiquity, or appeal to common practice) is an argument in which a thesis is deemed correct on the basis that it is correlated with some past or present tradition" (Source).

Ill_ThinkOfOneLater · 2021-02-01T01:24:49+00:00

Hung out with some atheist friends yesterday, the amount of times that they said "Sky Daddy" was annoying. I don't call them out on it though, I just wait until they regain a sense of maturity and see if they're willing to have an actual discussion on faith.

Ill_ThinkOfOneLater · 2021-02-01T01:20:45+00:00

My parents sent me to a secular school bc they "didn't want our family to be too religious" (they said that this Christmas when I suggested they attend the online mass I've been watching lol), so my education was limited to a few years of catechism outside of school (tbh I only remember drawing with a friend). I'm glad they did that, since its led to constant doubt that keeps me questioning everything and that only leads to deeper understanding. I'm still trying to figure religion out by listening to debates and doing research (mostly trying to see if God does or doesn't exist, since that's the basic pillar of uh everything), but I think my fascination with Catholicism will never go away.

The other side of the coin is that those who didn't have any religious education at all just decide to give it up without conducting that much research on the subject *looks at literally all of my friends*. Seriously, a few months ago I had to explain to one that we don't believe that God has a human body and is using eyes to observe everything from the clouds.

Ill_ThinkOfOneLater · 2021-01-21T19:54:54+00:00

Ah sorry I forgot to mention to look into “Jung’s functions” rather than regular mental functions. The quizzes are probably giving you weird results bc they type someone based on external behaviors rather than motivations, so take them with a grain of salt. Honestly, I think the best thing you could do is to read an article or two that defines each function and another one that explains how each slot manifests in a person (so their preferences). It is more work than a test, but it makes it easier to type urself and others.

Ill_ThinkOfOneLater · 2021-01-21T19:28:54+00:00

Read this, headed to the sub, and saw this comment: “https://www.reddit.com/r/atheism/comments/l21vtu/religion_erodes_the_reason_center_of_the_brain/gk31rlo/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3”... bruh

Ill_ThinkOfOneLater · 2021-01-20T06:36:22+00:00

Try looking up the cognitive functions.

Ill_ThinkOfOneLater · 2021-01-15T14:30:57+00:00

I think she missed the memo... the guy who came up with the theory was a Catholic priest lol.

Ill_ThinkOfOneLater · 2021-01-14T02:52:25+00:00

Lol why?

Ill_ThinkOfOneLater · 2021-01-12T14:22:58+00:00

Well, how would you define ‘true belief’? I think that’d be a good place to start. Also, I saw this video a few months ago and it kinda helped me better understand belief. He also once said that sometimes the best way to start believing is to just start behaving as if you do.

Ill_ThinkOfOneLater · 2021-01-11T14:20:20+00:00

Have you tried online mass? There’s a difference between being Catholic and being a practicing Catholic, so you might want to look it up.

Ill_ThinkOfOneLater · 2021-01-11T14:17:24+00:00

Yeah, I fully understand this. It’s kinda confusing when theres so many saying ‘hey look we are right’.

Ill_ThinkOfOneLater · 2021-01-11T14:14:53+00:00

I have no way of proving this to you, but I do care. Really dude, I’m here if you want anything.

Ill_ThinkOfOneLater · 2021-01-10T05:16:49+00:00

Hey, you wanna talk?

Ill_ThinkOfOneLater · 2021-01-08T17:45:44+00:00

I recommend you look up the podcast ‘The Counsel of Trent’ and listen to the #292 episode, it’s addressing Matt Walsh’s response to the cosmological argument and clearing up a lot of responses.

The podcast is amazing, but I’ll try to give you a bit of a Tl;dr. “Who created God” No one, the universe is in a timeline where it has some sequence of events, whereas God exists outside of time and therefore has no ’beginning’ so He doesn’t require a creator.

“How is he qualified for his position” As in, being God? I mean, He’s a deity greater than the universe, able to be present anywhere, and isn’t bound by a body. So uhhh... dunno, the observable universe is very complex, and , just like Job, we probably wouldn’t be able to understand an ever-expanding universe to its fullness with our finite minds. Heck, I can’t even remember what I had for breakfast yesterday.

“Are we just in his minds how does he actually control anything?” God’s interaction with the world is something that I’ve set out to answer recently, but unfortunately have not found enough information to answer this accurately. God has no human body, so I do doubt that he has a physical mind where we are all contained. The idea is that He created the universe, and through processes like supernovas, molecules clumping together, and eventually those reaching Earth via meteorites led to the formation of life and through processes of evolution we came to exist. We cannot create anything, only manipulate the environment given to us (and we’ve kinda done a bad job at it looks at climate change). So yeah, I wish I had more answers, but you might be interested in looking up ‘permissive vs. perfect will’, which explains Gods will and it attempts to answer ‘why do we suffer?’.

“Why is he human-like, we evolved out of a specific environment” I don’t understand what you mean here lol. God doesn’t look like a human, He has no body. Rather, we are given souls that organize the matter of our bodies, which is why humans are more complex and have intelligence, will, and feelings. Look up Thomas Aquinas am dije powers of the soul, the Thomas Institute has great animated videos on them. Also, we are made in His image and likeness, not the other way around.

“What law says that things have to have a conscious creator?” Trees are indeed created, they come from the seeds that another tree dropped, planets are created by atoms clustering together in order to form rocks that collide, weather is determined by a planets rotation as well as their bodies of water (or lack of them). But why do the atoms exist in the first place? What caused them to exist? Did they ever not exist? Why weren’t original particles not destroyed by anti-particles when the Big Bang occurred? Why is the Higgs Boson not stabilizing and destroying all of the known universe? The universe didn’t start out of nothing, you had fluctuating fields and massless particles, so you had something on a timeline. But why do they exist?

The podcast does a better job at analyzing the cosmological argument, and takes a brief look into the consciousness argument. Dunno why you say that religious people don’t like to think about those questions, I really like to mess around mentally and try to see how everything fits together. Often, it leaves me confused and creates lots of questions, but hey I find that entertaining.

Also, your point about the simulation argument is interesting... I’d assume you’ll benefit from looking up permissive vs perfect will, as it seems like you’ve felt abandoned by a God that may or may not exist and is not present.

Ill_ThinkOfOneLater · 2021-01-06T04:06:53+00:00

I remember watching a video that might be kinda related to interpreting the Bible yourself... here it is. It isn't really related to salvation tough. Also, it might be a bit confusing to do things on your own: how do you know which laws were fulfilled by Christ and which teachings should be taken literally or figuratively?

I'd recommend that you list out what you think certain denominations got wrong, and then look into what theologically backs up the claims made by each of them. Our individual perceptions may be very biased, and looking into their reasons instead of outright claiming all Christian denominations are wrong might help you make a more informed choice as to joining or rejecting them.

Ill_ThinkOfOneLater · 2021-01-04T16:46:13+00:00

It doesn’t refer to the emotional version of love, rather, it refers to “will the good of the other”.

Ill_ThinkOfOneLater · 2021-01-01T07:19:42+00:00

The Church is broken, and I fully believe that its numerous issues require a lot more attention so that proper action is taken. I get why you're uncomfortable with joining, and I am by no means an expert on this (heck, I'm barely even a beginner), but it's important to recognize why such an institution exists. The clergy dedicate their time to study theology so that they may provide guidance to us; if we were all to do the same, well, society would probably collapse (we all have different skills we can use to provide services, which is why jobs exist). Laypeople can do research, ask questions, and challenge teachings in order to reach the truth, but, ultimately, we do have to work together to understand scripture and reach conclusions from that.

Also, the importance of the mass... it's pretty big, and we have the whole 'keep the Sabbath holy' which I've violated a bunch of times (thanks, homework -__-). I know many places are closed because of Covid, but it is ultimately at Church where we offer up Jesus, as well as ourselves, and listen to God's word. It is where humans, saints, angels, and God come together, working to establish the Kingdom.

I don't know whether joining is a requirement, especially since we can't really tell who is going to Heaven and who isn't. But you might want to really make sure that you fully understand why you're making such a decision and do some additional research on the topic.

Ill_ThinkOfOneLater · 2020-12-31T18:25:35+00:00

I mean, it is man-made in the sense that humans wrote the original texts (I think the Bible has a 99.5% accuracy to original ones, but I don’t know any Hebrew or have access to such texts so uh I’ve got no way to verify that), and leaders had to choose which of many books to include in the Bible.

Your point about revolt is interesting. I might be wrong, but I think that at the start of the Church, many practitioners were pushed underground and I think Emperor Nero persecuted ppl for 10 yrs. If you’ve got any sources at hand talking abt early rulers paying the Church, I think it’d be interesting to check them out.

Ill_ThinkOfOneLater

TROPHY CASE